Sentinel Blueberry Variety Impresses Growers and Consumers

Tim Hammerich

News Reporter

Sentinel is the newest blueberry variety release from the University of Florida IFAS. Blueberry breeder Patricio Munoz says out of the many different cultivars examined, this one checked all of the boxes.

Munoz… “It was outstanding for several characteristics that we needed for producers here. So the first one is early yield and consistent across the years and across locations in the central and north part of the state. And the second one is high yield, of course, and good for quality characteristics. So it has a smaller scar, but it's firm enough. Also size, so it has commercial size, commercial firmness. Color: it doesn't have any problems with color. So it doesn't have any defects that we have seen so far.”

Not only does the cultivar meet the needs of growers, and handlers, a panel of over 200 people at the University of Florida Sensory Testing Lab gave the berry high marks.

Munoz… “But the most important thing again is the yield - consistent yield and early yield - that still, we have certain kind of window for the Florida producer. So we still can take advantage of that. So this new cultivar that we just released in 2020 is to target that advantage that we still have.”

The Sentinel blueberry represents the importance of public/private partnerships for advancing our food and agricultural industries.